Roof replacement cost in Chicago: what owners paid (2023 survey)
Chicago owners paid a median $12,500 for roofing work: $2,500 above the U.S. median, fifth-highest of 15 big metros (Census Bureau, 2023). When owners hired it out, the middle half paid $10,000 to $20,000.
What Chicago owners paid
$12,500
This is historical spending: work done in about 2021 to 2023 on owner-occupied homes, reported in the 2023 survey.
Margin of error ±$1,208: at 90% confidence the Chicago median lies between $11,292 and $13,708.
Hired out: $13,000 typical, from 84 hired-out jobs in the survey sample.
How Chicago compares
- U.S. median, same work
- $10,000
- Rank, highest first
- 5 of 15
Chicago: $12,500. The big-metro medians run from $8,000 to $15,000.
A new roof in Chicago at today’s prices
The figures above are what owners paid for work done in 2021 to 2023. Here is our estimate of a re-roof today, for the roof you enter in Chicago: shingles and underlayment at one store’s posted price, the dumpster for the old roof and the permit, the crew’s time at what a roofer costs an employer, and the share of the price roofing contractors spend on overhead and keep as profit. Each figure says where it comes from, and the crew time and the overhead share are yours to change.
Filled in as an example: a 2,000 sq ft roof with one layer to tear off. Type over any of it with your own roof and your roofer’s figures.
Our estimate for this roof: $12,608, itemized below.
| Part | Cost | Where the figure comes from |
|---|---|---|
| Shingles: 66 bundles | $3,431 | GAF Timberline HDZ, Charcoal at $51.99 a bundle, Ward Lumber in Jay, NY, ; 10% extra for cuts |
| Underlayment: 3 rolls | $270 | GAF FeltBuster synthetic roofing felt at $90 a roll, A+ Roofing Supply in Sugar Hill, GA, |
| Tear-off: about 2 tons | $582 | A 20-yard dumpster with 2.5 tons and 14 days included, Roll-Off Dumpster Direct’s posted price for Chicago, IL, . Posted for general waste: ask about shingles before you book. Sized for 200 lb a square a layer, the weight of new shingles; an old roof with its felt and nails often weighs more. |
| Permit | Not added | Unincorporated Cook County charges $73.50 for alterations up to $5,000 of contract cost, plus $18.50 for each further $1,000; the City of Chicago sets its own fees (schedule checked ). Your building department decides which fee a re-roof takes, so none is added here. |
| Labor: 60 worker-hours | $3,407 | 3 a square for 20 squares, at about $57 an hour, the employer’s cost of a roofer earning the median wage in the Chicago area |
| Overhead and profit | $4,918 | 39% of the price, roofing contractors’ average in 2022, homes and commercial work together: what was left of their receipts after materials, work they subcontracted and their crews’ pay and benefits, for office staff, rent, insurance, vehicles, fuel, taxes and profit (Census Bureau, 2022 Economic Census) |
| Our estimate from these inputs | $12,608 | Not a roofer’s price: what these parts, this crew time and this overhead share add up to. A fair quote can be higher, since it also pays for what is not counted here. Before sales tax and delivery. Not counted: starter strip, ridge cap, drip edge, nails, flashing and vents (the roofing calculator counts them from your roof’s edges), an ice barrier along the eaves where your code asks for one, new sheathing. |
What an hour costs: no public source prices a roofing crew by the job, so the estimate counts its time. Roofers in the Chicago area earn a median $39.47 an hour (BLS, May 2025). Benefits make up 30.5% of what construction employers spend an hour on pay and benefits (all trades, BLS, June 2026), so an hour of a roofer at that wage costs an employer about $57.
Scaled to your roof: Chicago roof permits that give the roof’s area declared a median of $9.67 a square foot. For 2,000 sq ft that is about $19,300, and the middle half comes to $14,000 to $30,000. Across roofs of every size the middle half was $11,300 to $26,800.
Type a quote’s total above to set it against this estimate.
What Chicago roof permits declared
Chicago’s building permits for asphalt-shingle roof replacements issued from October 2025 to September 2026 declared a median of $17,000; the middle half declared $11,300 to $26,800 (484 permits).
445 of these permits give a roof area between 400 and 6,000 sq ft. Per square foot of roof they declared a median of $9.67, the middle half $7.01 to $15.00. Some applicants write the area in squares (1 square is 100 sq ft), so areas under 400 are left out, as are the few over 6,000.
This is the cost of the work as the applicant estimated it on the permit, not an invoice or a final price. It counts every asphalt-shingle roof replacement on the city’s express permit, whatever the building, so some take in a garage or a second roof with the house. Set it beside the estimate above and your written quotes.
Source: City of Chicago, Building Permits, read .
- Miami$16,000$12,000–$30,000
- Seattle$15,100$10,000–$25,000
- San Francisco$15,000$10,000–$26,000
- Los Angeles$14,300$7,500–$17,000
- Chicago$13,000$10,000–$20,000
- Dallas$12,000$7,000–$22,000
- New York City$12,000$8,000–$15,000
- Boston$11,000$6,300–$15,000
- Houston$10,800$7,100–$15,000
- Atlanta$10,000$6,000–$16,000
- Phoenix$10,000$4,000–$15,000
- Riverside$10,000$6,000–$14,300
- Washington DC$10,000$5,000–$15,000
- Detroit$9,000$6,000–$15,000
- Philadelphia$8,600$4,300–$12,000
A metro is shown when at least 30 hired-out jobs in the survey sample stand behind it.
What it covers
Every roofing job owners reported, all roof sizes and materials together: a small roof costs less, a large or steep one more.
The Census category is “Roofing” within “Exterior Additions and Replacements”: what Chicago-area homeowners told the Census Bureau they paid, every size of job together.
Before you compare quotes
Ask every contractor to price the same scope, in writing. A quote outside the hired-out range above is a reason to ask what it covers, not proof that it is wrong. Are tear-off, decking repairs, flashing and disposal included?
Check the roofer’s license
Illinois licenses roofing contractors; the license number starts with 104 and must appear on the contract. Check it with the state. Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation: license look-up (checked October 7, 2026).
Measure your job with the material calculator. Then put the quotes in the matching quote worksheet to see each one's scope beside its price.